Coffee maker



Nov. 29, 1938. w. c. WEBER ET AL 2,138,198

' COFFEE MAKER Filed Aug. 17, 1956 INVENTOR. Marne. C. Mara BY mm'ipm/mvA! l/llLlECM ATTORNEYS.

Patented Nov.29, 1938 Walter G. Weber,

Painted Post, and Edmund H. Wellech, Corning, N. 1.,

assignors to Corning Glass Works, CorninnN. Y., a corporation of NewYork Application August 17, 1936, Serial No. 96.530

This invention relates to coffee makers and particularly to the type ofcoifee makers wherein water, which has been heated nearly to the boilingpoint, is passed through a confined'mass of finely ground coffee and asuitable filter.

In all pastcofiee makers of this type with which we-are familiar, thebrewing and filterin action occurs concurrently, the filtering action astarting substantially immediately after the water has been poured overthe ground coffee. The filtering action'is, accordingly, made slow so asto allow the water time to extract as much of the essence from thecofiee as is practicable.

In order to obtain a brew of superior quality, free from the harmfuleffects of most coffee, the coffee should be permitted to brew from'twoto four minutes as desired in accordance with the taste of the user,after which the brew should be filtered as completely and as quickly aspossible. So far as we are aware, however, no coflee brewing apparatusheretofore devised has allowed the user to exercise his own discretionas to the brewing time prior to the commencement of the filteringaction.

An object of this invention is the brewing of a beverage in a manner toobtain a brew. of superior quality and flavor.

Another object is a coffee maker which permits the user to exercise hisown discretion as'to the brewing time.

Among its features this invention embodies a coffee maker in which thebrewing and filtering action can be made to occur consecutively.

Another feature is a coffee maker of simple construction, and in whichall of the parts which contact with-the ground coffee .and the brew areformed of glass so as to avoid contamination of the brew and to preserveits quality and flavor.

A further feature is a coffee maker composed of an upper or brewingchamber, a combined valve and filter plate supporting the upper chamber,and a brew receiving vessel on which the combined valve and filter platerests.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a coifee makerembodying my invent Y g Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1 W1 the brewingchamber arranged in the brewing?- osition and paittly broken away tobetter show t e respective P Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, butwith'the parts in the filtering position;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken on the lines 4-4 of Fig.22"

Fig. 5 isa view similar toFig. 4, taken on line I N Fig. 3 showing theparts in filtering position; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the combined valve and filter plate,

Referring to the drawing, it will be seen that 5 our coffee makercomprises a suitable vessel such as In for receiving the brew, acombined valve and filter plate supported by the vessel It and havingaseat II on which a brewing chamber i 2' rests.

The brewing chamber l2 has the central portion 13 of its bottom raisedso as to direct the flow of fluid through a series of surrounding holesl4 therein, which are adapted-to at times register with indentations iiiin the combined valve and 15 filter plate seat II as illustrated inFigs. 1, 3 and 5. Each of the indentations l5 has connected with it ashallow channel It directed into a largev annular sediment trough I! theinner wall of which serves as a dam l8 over which accumulated 20 fluidflows into the vessel It through a funnel-. like opening l9.

The brew chamber 12 is aligned concentrically with seat I l by anupstanding'flange 20 extending from the outer periphery of the filteplate seat- 25 II; and that bottom surface of bre chamber l2 which restson seat It is ground against the seat to produce a fluid tight fitbetween it and the surfaces surrounding holes Hi to prevent the passageof fluid from the brew chamber l2 when the 30 chamber is so positionedthat the holes therein are out of register with indentations l5, asillustrated in Figs. 2 and 4. -Such'a condition prevails when an arrow24 (Fig. 1) on the side of chamber I2 is immediately above an arrowdesig-- nated B on the outer vertical surface of flange 20 and is termedthe brewing position.

By rotating the chamber l2 slightly clockwise until the arrow 24 isimmediately above an arrow designated F on the flange 20, the holes I4are 40 brought into register with the indentations I5 and this is termedthe filtering position.

A nib 2| (Fig. 1), protruding from the inner wall of vessel i0,-registers with a suitable notch -22 (Fig. 6) in the lower edge'of thecombined valve and filter plate and so prevents rotation of the plate.when the brewing chamber is being rotated from its brewing to itsfiltering position. The vessel; It has been illustrated as being of thesame type as that shown in the co-pending said application Ser. No.89,183, filed 'July 6, 1936,; but it should be understood that anyvessel of proper 'sizema'y be. used if desired and the filter plate,manually held while the brew chamber is being rotated from the brewingto the filtering position.

In the operation of. the coffee maker, the brew chamber is placedin thebrewin position as first described, a suitable. quantity of groundcoffee 3. In a coffee brewing apparatus, a combined valve and filter.plate'consisting of a glass element having indentations and a sedimenttrough placed therein, and water heated to a tempera therein and alsohaving channels connectingsuch ture near its boiling point pouredthereov'er. The water is'allowed to stand in the upper container incontact with the ground coffee and brew for the desired period of timeafter which the brew chamber is rotated to the second described orfiltering position. It is tobe understood that during the brewing periodthe water and ground coffee may be stirred as frequently as desired atthe discretion of the user, and further, that the filtering period maybelengthened if desired by rotating the brew chamber to an intermediatepoint between the brewing and filtering positions.

At the first passage of fluid through the holes ll, grounds 25 (Fig. 5)which have rested in the holes will pass to the bottom of theindentations l5 now below them. However, the grounds directly above theholes form' arches or domes, as indicated in Fig. 5, which preventfurther passage ,of coffee grounds through holes l4, and the. layer ofgrounds above such domes acts as a filter for the liquid. ;To eliminatethe small par ticles of grounds 26 that have left the holes l4 andpassed through the shallow channels l6 at the beginning of the flow, theliquid is allowed to first accumulate in the annular sediment trough I'l and settle, after which it flows over the wall or dam l8 and throughhole l9 into the vessel Hi.

When filtering action has been completed, the combined valve and filterplate and the brew chamber are removed from the vessel.

It will be seen that a coflee maker such as we have described is ideallysuited to the brewing of coffee in what is believed to be the preferredmanner, and is of simple construction requiring few steps in itsmanufactin'e.

Although we have shown and described but one I embodiment of ourinvention, it is to be under stood that we do not wish to be restrictedthereto except as defined by the appended claims.

- into which the flow of fluidentering said passageways is directed andone wall of which forms an overflow outlet into said receiving vessel. a

2. In an apparatus for making drip coffee, a brewing chamber, saidelement having holes thru the bottom thereof of a greater diameter thanthe cross-section of individual granules of ground coflee used; and acooperating element,

on which said brew chamber rests, having surfaces cooperating withbottom surfaces of said brewing chamber for preventing the passage offluid or ground coffee thru said holes, said element also havingindentations therein each for receiving such coflee grounds as may passthru one of such holes with which it may be brought into register andeachindentation having a comparatively shallow channel connecting itwith a trough in constant communication. with abottom outlet in saidelement arranged over a vessel for receiving the brew.

indentations with the sediment trough one wall of which is also the wallof an outlet for accumulations of fluid in the trough and a brewingchamber-supported by said plate having holes passing thru the bottomthereof arranged for placement in and out of register with suchindentations. I

4. In a coffee maker, a glass brewing cha'mber having an annular seriesof holes passing thruthe bottom thereof, a glass support for saidchamber adapted for placement on a-vessel for receiving a brew releasedfrom confinement in said brewing chamber, said support having itschamber supporting surfaces ground against thosepbottom surfaces of saidbrewing chamber surrounding said holes and sealing them against thepassage of fluid and having a series of hori- 'zontally disposedchannels with which the holes may be aligned by a slight rotary movementof the brewing chamber with respect to said sup- 5. A coffee brewerwhich consists of a brewing chamber having a perforated bottom, asupport for said chamber adapted for placement over a vessel forreceiving the brew, said support having horizontally disposed channelsfor directing fluid released from said chamber into such vessel, saidbrewing chamber and support having cooperating surfaces which whenarranged in one manner with respect to each other seal the per--'forations against the passage of fluid into such channels and whenshifted to an alternative position with respect to one another bring theperforations into register with such channels.

6. In a coffee making apparatus, a brewing chamber for receiving abrewing mixture having an annular series of perforations thru the bottomthereof, a chamber supporting plate having tations and channelsestablishing communication between the indentations and the aperture,the supporting surface of the plate cooperating with the bottom surfaceof said brewing chamber to close the oph sides of the channels andproduce restricted passageways, and the walls of the indentationscooperating with the walls of the apertures to control the flow of fluidthru the channels.

7. An apparatus employed in brewing "a beverage by allowing a mixture offluid and dry ingredients to brew for a selectel period of time acentral aperture, an annular series of indenand then filtering the brewfrom the dregs, consisting of a brewing chamber for receiving themixture having an annularly arranged series of perforations thruthe-bottom thereof; in combination with a supporting plate having anannular row of indentations adapted to register with the perforations inthe chamber, the surfaces of the plate-surrounding the indentationscooperating with the bottom surfaces of said brewing chamber to preventthe passage of fluid .from said chamber, said plate having an aperturetherethru. and having indentations and channels in its supportingsurface in communication with each other, said indentations being sospaced that the perforations may be brought into register therewl -h'toprovide a path for the flow of fluid through the channels.

8'.-In an apparatus for making drip coffee, a

brewing chamber having-a perforated bottom, a

plate upon which said chamber rests in rotatable aisaiea 3 relation withrespect to said plate, said plate having surfaces. which are cooperativewith the adjacent bottom surfaces of the brewing. chamber surroundingthe perforations to seal them against the flow of fluid therefrom, saidplate also having channels cooperative with bottom surfaces of saidbrewing chamber and terminating in indentations alternately disposedwith re-

